Study Date
by Buffybot76
Summary: Kurama tutors Keiko and they admire one another discretely.


**Title:** Study Date

 **Author:** Buffybot76

 **Rating:** PG

 **Pairing:** Kurama/Keiko

 **Summary:** Kurama tutors Keiko and they admire one another discretely.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the YYH characters, they belong to their creator and I am just playing with my favorite pairing in my sandbox for a bit of non-profitable fun.

 **A/N:** I wrote this soooo very long ago, I'm surprised to still have it to be honest. I think I was going to continue it, but at the moment I'm sort of in the middle of writing some HP fics that I want to focus on. Since one of those will eventually be a crossover with YYH, then perhaps it will ignite my muse to come back to my unfinished works and finally complete them. Let's keep our fingers crossed...

Anyway, just thought I would share this with everyone who have read and enjoyed my other Kurama/Keiko stories. Hope you like this one as well. Kindly leave a review and let me know, ne?

The soft rustling of papers could be heard as Shiori Minamino passed by her son's bedroom on her way downstairs. She paused outside of the door long enough to knock gently before pushing it open to peer inside.

"Shuichi, would you and your friend like some tea while you study? Perhaps some sandwiches?" the older woman asked as she gazed at her only son and his guest.

The red-headed teenager smiled from his perch on the edge of his bed. "Yes, thank you, mother. Perhaps it would be good to take a break for a small time. Keiko?"

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Minamino." the brown haired girl replied from where she sat at the small wooden desk beside the bed.

With a nod, Shiori exited the room, closing the door behind her as she went. After his mother had left, Kurama turned back to find Keiko staring at him. "Is anything wrong, Keiko?"

Keiko, realizing that she'd been caught, turned away as a blush crept into her cheeks. "Oh, n-no, nothing's wrong, Kurama." she stuttered nervously, turning away and taking a deep breath to calm herself.

A small frown marred the handsome teenager's face. His gaze turned worried as he caught the stutter in her voice and the calming breath. "Are you sure, Keiko? You are not acting like yourself."

Finally managing to quell the redness of her cheeks, Keiko turned back to offer a small smile in Kurama's direction. "It's nothing, really, Kurama. I just... really appreciate you taking the time to tutor me in Biology like this. Mr. Iwamoto said that if I didn't raise my average then my chances for a scholarship would be extremely low." Keiko sighed as she bowed her head and murmured, "As in, no chance at all."

"It's no trouble, Keiko, I assure you. Anything to help a friend. I was quite surprised that you even needed it. Usually you do quite well in all of your subjects." Green eyes regarded her calmly, sympathy shining through for the girl in front of him.

Keiko shrugged weakly, she didn't really have any response to Kurama's observation. Their attention was drawn to the door as once again Shiori knocked lightly before entering, a platter filled with sandwiches and two tall glasses of green tea. Keiko quickly cleaned her school books from the desk in order to allow Mrs. Minamino to set the platter down on it. After his mother had left the room once more, Kurama turned his attention back to Keiko.

"So, how did your most recent quiz go, well, I hope?" the anxiousness he was feeling was hidden under a calm and friendly exterior. Kurama took a sandwich, taking small quickly eaten bites as he waited nervously for the answer.

"Oh, much better, thanks to you," Keiko replied, "I couldn't have done it without you."

A relief-filled smile split his face at the news, the slight tension easing out of his shoulders as he finished his sandwich. "That's good to hear, Keiko."

After taking a sip of her tea, Keiko picked up a sandwich as well and began to nibble on it delicately. After they finished with the refreshments, Keiko cleared the desk so that she could place her Biology text book back on top. "So, shall we continue?" she inquired with a small smile.

"Of course," Kurama leaned forward, long red strands brushing the edge of the desk as he peered over at the Biology book from one side. "Let's begin back on page 346. DNA to RNA, and we might want to go over mRNA and tRNA as well."

Keiko tried to concentrate on what Kurama was talking about, but every time he moved, his red hair would sway slightly within her line of sight, distracting her thoroughly. She had always liked Kurama's hair, it always looked so shiny and soft... Suddenly, Keiko had the undeniable urge to reach out and touch the dangling locks, to see if it would be as soft as she'd imagined. Ever so subtly, Keiko slid her hand forward until her fingertips came into contact with the silky strands that lay carelessly over the upper part of the textbook.

 _'Oh, it_ _ **is**_ _as soft as it looks,'_ she thought, as she fingered the strands gently before covering the gesture up by brushing them off of the page.

Kurama's eyes followed her hand covertly and he smiled slightly before clearing his throat and pointing to the words on the page. "I'm sure you've read this section before, so perhaps you should answer these review questions?" Kurama leaned back slightly, moving his hair off of the desk to observe her reaction.

A frown emerged briefly, and her eyes tracked Kurama's hair as it slowly slid out of reach. Attempting to cover up her disappointment, Keiko diverted her eyes back to the textbook and nodded. "Right," she said, reaching for a pencil and beginning to do as Kurama had instructed.

A small delighted smile passed across the red head's face before he smoothed his features into neutrality. Kurama took the time to watch Keiko, his eyes traveling over her face as she concentrated on her work. He forced himself to look away briefly to see she was doing well so far, before going back to his gazing. Without realizing it, he leaned forward, his hair once again brushing the edge of the table.

Almost as if drawn by a magnet, Keiko's unoccupied hand unconsciously wandered up again, snagging the hair in a gentle grip, twirling it slightly around her fingers. Keiko's features maintained their look of concentration, despite the activity of her hand. Finally finishing the last review question, Keiko glanced up, a look of shock causing her eyes to widen as she realized where her hand was and what it was doing. She could feel the heated blush building up in her cheeks again as she slid a cautious glance toward Kurama, hoping against hope that he hadn't noticed.

Kurama's shocked gaze was centered on Keiko's hand, but he blushed himself when he realized he'd gotten caught up enough in watching Keiko that it had taken him until the scratching of the pencil had stopped to wake him from his trance. He raised his eyes to meet Keiko's, a small smile spreading across his face as he noticed her blush. He raised a hand and took Keiko's gently. "That was quick, Keiko. Shall I check the answers?" he asked while still holding one of her hands in his.

Keiko's eyes flitted momentarily to their joined hands. Swallowing, she nodded as a fluttery feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach. Her throat felt tight with embarassment and a bit of excitement. _'Kurama is holding my hand.'_ the thought kept repeating over and over in her mind.

She had never thought it possible, and wondered briefly if she was dreaming, but one glance back into Kurama's bright green eyes told her that she wasn't. As their eyes locked onto one another, the air surrounding them seemed to crackle into life, while an all-consuming tension began to build. Keiko's breathing slowed until she was barely managing shallow gasps. Her eyes widened when - as if in slow motion - Kurama's head began to draw nearer to hers. Her eyes began to drift closed as Kurama's rose scented essence filled her senses and his lips began to decend upon hers.

"Shuichi, dear, I've got to go for a bit. There are some tasks that I need to take care of, will you and Keiko be alright here while I'm gone?" Mrs. Minamino's voice called from outside the bedroom door.

Kurama and Keiko jerked back from their close proximity quite quickly, Kurama letting go of Keiko's hand in the process.

"O-of course, mother, we will be fine." Kurama responded, a bit unnerved by what had nearly happened.

Both remained frozen in silent awe until the sound of the front door of the Minamino house closing snapped them out of it. Keiko blinked quickly, her face flushing as she grabbed her books from the desk. "Um... maybe I should just... go. Yeah." she managed to say, already heading for the bedroom door, but a hand wrapped around her wrist, stilling her escape.

"No, don't go, Keiko. Please, stay." Kurama implored.

Keiko turned back around, but kept her head lowered, refusing to look the red head in the eyes. Kurama shifted on his bed before taking a deep breath. "Keiko, I'm sorry if I startled you," he apologized politely. "I would like to ask you something." Kurama paused briefly to make sure she was still listening, emerald eyes dimming as his confidence was overtaken by normal teenage nerves.

 _ **~If you'd just let me handle this, there would have been nothing to be nervous about!~**_ Kurama gathered his confidence back about him at the first touch of the boasting fox.

 _'Be quite, Youko, I'm doing fine.'_

 _ **~Oh, sure you are. That's why she's trying to leave. Just let me-~**_

 _'No!'_

Before Youko could try his hand at winning over Keiko, Kurama gathered himself up and gave her his most charming smile. "There's a festival coming up at the end of school. I would like to ask if I may have permission to accompany you?"

Keiko started, her head flying up from its bowed position as wide eyes stared at Kurama in shock. "Wh-what?"

Kurama hesitated then let go of her wrist, shaking his head. "Never mind, Keiko. I-I'm sorry for keeping you here. I'll see you later, I suppose?"

Snapping out of her shocked state, Keiko blinked then shook her head. "N-no, Kurama. I didn't mean to... I mean… I just wasn't sure I heard you right. Your asking me to the festival just caught me by surprise." Finally, reaching out to take hold of his hand again, Keiko smiled. "I'd love to go with you to the festival, Kurama. Thank you for asking me."

Kurama got to his feet, squeezing her hand gently. A delighted smile spread across his face, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek."Your welcome, Keiko." he murmured.

Keiko clutched her school books to her chest as a blush rose for the tenth time that day. Nodding at Kurama, she murmured a soft goodbye before leaving the kitsune to his inner musings.


End file.
